2019 in AgeTech Review – Was That a Great Year for the Everyone in the Ecosystem?
The AgeTech ecosystem has grown a lot in the past few years, and as another year of aging innovation ends, let’s look back at some of the events that shaped 2019 in AgeTech.
Partnerships
- Following Amazon’s announcement that Alexa devices are now HIPAA compliant, Caremerge teamed up with amazon to bring Alexa voice technology to senior living communities. Also, Alexa can now remind you when to take your pills.
- Pfizer launched a pilot with home robot Mabu to study patient response to AI.
- Devoted Health says it is the first to cover Apple Watch as a benefit.
- Pillo Health And BLACK+DECKER partner to help adults and their caregivers manage their healthcare at home.
- WHILL brings its autonomous wheelchairs to North American airports.
- The Helper Bees is partnering with long-term care insurer CNA.
- Aetna will be offering access to at-home caregiver services through CareLinx to support members as they age at home.
- K4Connect and Ziegler Link•Age fund form a strategic partnership.
- The state of California will test Cherry Home’s home monitoring for seniors solution.
Why should you care? Partnerships between startups and buyers mean that these products and services are ready (or almost ready) for commercialization.
Mergers & Acquisitions
- Best Buy acquires another remote senior monitoring service, Critical Signal Technologies.
- Uniguest, a provider of digital signage & public-space computers in hotels, has acquired Touchtown.
- Caregiver marketplace Carelinx acquired Optimal Aging.
- Unforgettable and Live Better announce a merger.
Why should you care? M&As signal that the market is maturing.
Government & Regulation
- Alexa became HIPAA compliant.
- BioBeat’s wearable got an FDA clearance.
- The United States Government issued a report about Emerging Technologies to Support an Aging Population.
- The FCC moves forward with $100M rural telehealth pilot program.
- A new £20m research center in the UK will develop new technologies to help people with dementia age in place.
Why should you care? Policymakers aren’t early adopters, if they’re making moves, reimbursement could follow.
Launches
- Aging 2.0 announced the launch of The Collective initiative.
- 5 new accelerators for age-tech startups launched: Zinc VC’s Mission 3, Upward Labs’ Aged Care Lab, Tech For Good’s Aeon, Hax‘s program which was developed with Centrica, and Silver Moonshot’s virtual accelerator.
- Smart home startup Billy announced it’s consumer launch.
Why should you care? Launches mean new beginnings, which means the market isn’t stagnate.
Major Funding Rounds
- AlayaCare raised $33 million (CND) growth funding.
- Vayyar raises $109 million to bring its 4D radar imaging tech to more markets.
- BrainCheck Closes $8M Series A Funding Round, enables physicians to better assess cognitive impairment & dementia.
- Papa Raises $10M in Series A Funding for its expanding “grandkids on demand” service.
- Pillo Health Closes $11 Million Funding Round Led by Stanley Ventures.
Why should you care? Funding for companies allows them to grow and expand to meet the needs of more customers.
That’s it for 2019, for a review of the past decade, click here.
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